Xerxeskingofking
SOC-13
Grendel Class Escort Trader
the Gendel class excort trader is another of the reworked vessels built by Sassanid Heavy Industries, in this case one of several variants they produce for the classic Beowulf class free trader hull. Unlike the Gatekeeper class, the modifcations are too extensive to be done anywhere but a full class B starport with a sub kiloton shipyard.
the Grendel class, is, at heart, a anti priate vessel. those in a cynical mood have labeled it s "Q-ship", after the archaic Solomani name for ships which are designed to lure convoy raiders in with a seemingly "easy" kill, then turn the tables and destory them. It was created with the megacorps and subsector naives as the intended buyers, the idea being it would free up "real" warships for other, more important duties. as a result, it uses a lot more advanced components than the Gatekeepers, as it is expected to operate with better logicistical backing and a steady supply of spare parts.
the Grendel is designed to patrol up and down a Jump Main, seeking to be taken by an observer as just one of the dozens of Free traders that eke out a living taking up the "slack" in the trade networks. it has limited cargo space, enough to take on small cargoes for "show" and to run minor errands for the own megacorps, but not nearly enough to make a profit as a real trader. nether the less, many operators do make try and offset the running costs of the Grendel by having it haul small freight loads and enguage in Spec trade.
when a pirate vessel takes the bait and tries to attack the Grendel , it fires up its main weapon: a Sassanid SaagKuu (a ledgendry sword form Vlani mythology) Meson Weapon System (MWS), mounted entirely within the hull, where the foreward cargo bay would be on a "real" beowulf.
The SaagKuu is one of the most advanced and compact MWS designs in the Imperium, packing a simmilar profomnace to the standard 50 ton Meson bay into a 30 ton space, at the cost of doubling the price, and the use to hard to replace TL14 components. the SaagKuu accounts for nearly half of the cost of the ship, but gives the Grendel a massive bite for it's size. taking advantage of the meson guns ability to fire though matter, the MWS has no visable external components, leading priates to think the ship has only one turret, until the first meson shot explodes inside thier fuel tanks.....
the turret mounts 3 "behnyeh" (a darrian word for a type of high altidude lightning on thier homeworld) Particle beams. the Behnyeh are another advanced design, this time stressing resilience and ease of maintainace over compactness. it is possible to reach any part of all three Behnyehs form within the turret, though some disassembly is needed to reach some parts. the whole set up is very rugged, and has proven very resitant to battle damage, and easy to repiar when it is put out of action.
as a result of this particle a meson based armament, the Grendel tends to severely iradiate it's targets in combat. extensive raditation sheilding is built into the hull, and the computers are hardened.
in order to improve combat proformance, the Grendel has extensive internal bracing and hull reinforcement, letting it absorb levels of damage that would destroy most 200 ton ships and keep fighting.
sales and feedback
the Grendel has done moderatly brisk sales with several megacorps and sector wide companies, mostly in the more developed sectors where a steady supply of parts is available. combat proformance has been encouraging, with the Grendel easily able to defeat 300 ton "Corsair" ships, and in at least one confrimed instance destorying a Cutlass class Pirate cruiser due to a lucky meson shot slagging the bridge in the opening moments.
the ship has also seen some sales to private security firms, who find the ship's "innocent" appearence a boon in certian situations. most famous of these was the assasination of Admiral Urrtsu, a vargr pirate lord, who was killed while addressing his followers by a meson shot form the Dis'co Velante, parked around 500km away at the main starport, using a homing beacon planted on Urrtsu's ship to fix the range.
their have been some complaints about the design of the Grendel, though. the most common is the small crew means that the ship cannot take prizes, meaning its only option is to destroy attackers rather than cripple. Also, for a 200 ton ship, the Grendel is expensive, both to buy and to run. it costs the same as a 400 ton Gazelle close escort. the parts for the meason gun and the radiation sheilding both drive the maintainace costs upward.
However, on the whole, most customers have been satisfied with the Grendel .
stats
OOC notes.
this is my second ship design, again a Mongoose traveller ship taking advantage of the advanced ship design rules in the MgT High Guard book. comments, critques, and any mistakes you spot are welcome.
the Gendel class excort trader is another of the reworked vessels built by Sassanid Heavy Industries, in this case one of several variants they produce for the classic Beowulf class free trader hull. Unlike the Gatekeeper class, the modifcations are too extensive to be done anywhere but a full class B starport with a sub kiloton shipyard.
the Grendel class, is, at heart, a anti priate vessel. those in a cynical mood have labeled it s "Q-ship", after the archaic Solomani name for ships which are designed to lure convoy raiders in with a seemingly "easy" kill, then turn the tables and destory them. It was created with the megacorps and subsector naives as the intended buyers, the idea being it would free up "real" warships for other, more important duties. as a result, it uses a lot more advanced components than the Gatekeepers, as it is expected to operate with better logicistical backing and a steady supply of spare parts.
the Grendel is designed to patrol up and down a Jump Main, seeking to be taken by an observer as just one of the dozens of Free traders that eke out a living taking up the "slack" in the trade networks. it has limited cargo space, enough to take on small cargoes for "show" and to run minor errands for the own megacorps, but not nearly enough to make a profit as a real trader. nether the less, many operators do make try and offset the running costs of the Grendel by having it haul small freight loads and enguage in Spec trade.
when a pirate vessel takes the bait and tries to attack the Grendel , it fires up its main weapon: a Sassanid SaagKuu (a ledgendry sword form Vlani mythology) Meson Weapon System (MWS), mounted entirely within the hull, where the foreward cargo bay would be on a "real" beowulf.
The SaagKuu is one of the most advanced and compact MWS designs in the Imperium, packing a simmilar profomnace to the standard 50 ton Meson bay into a 30 ton space, at the cost of doubling the price, and the use to hard to replace TL14 components. the SaagKuu accounts for nearly half of the cost of the ship, but gives the Grendel a massive bite for it's size. taking advantage of the meson guns ability to fire though matter, the MWS has no visable external components, leading priates to think the ship has only one turret, until the first meson shot explodes inside thier fuel tanks.....
the turret mounts 3 "behnyeh" (a darrian word for a type of high altidude lightning on thier homeworld) Particle beams. the Behnyeh are another advanced design, this time stressing resilience and ease of maintainace over compactness. it is possible to reach any part of all three Behnyehs form within the turret, though some disassembly is needed to reach some parts. the whole set up is very rugged, and has proven very resitant to battle damage, and easy to repiar when it is put out of action.
as a result of this particle a meson based armament, the Grendel tends to severely iradiate it's targets in combat. extensive raditation sheilding is built into the hull, and the computers are hardened.
in order to improve combat proformance, the Grendel has extensive internal bracing and hull reinforcement, letting it absorb levels of damage that would destroy most 200 ton ships and keep fighting.
sales and feedback
the Grendel has done moderatly brisk sales with several megacorps and sector wide companies, mostly in the more developed sectors where a steady supply of parts is available. combat proformance has been encouraging, with the Grendel easily able to defeat 300 ton "Corsair" ships, and in at least one confrimed instance destorying a Cutlass class Pirate cruiser due to a lucky meson shot slagging the bridge in the opening moments.
the ship has also seen some sales to private security firms, who find the ship's "innocent" appearence a boon in certian situations. most famous of these was the assasination of Admiral Urrtsu, a vargr pirate lord, who was killed while addressing his followers by a meson shot form the Dis'co Velante, parked around 500km away at the main starport, using a homing beacon planted on Urrtsu's ship to fix the range.
their have been some complaints about the design of the Grendel, though. the most common is the small crew means that the ship cannot take prizes, meaning its only option is to destroy attackers rather than cripple. Also, for a 200 ton ship, the Grendel is expensive, both to buy and to run. it costs the same as a 400 ton Gazelle close escort. the parts for the meason gun and the radiation sheilding both drive the maintainace costs upward.
However, on the whole, most customers have been satisfied with the Grendel .
stats
OOC notes.
this is my second ship design, again a Mongoose traveller ship taking advantage of the advanced ship design rules in the MgT High Guard book. comments, critques, and any mistakes you spot are welcome.
